Merkel lends backing to halt rise of France's far-right

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday she would do what she can to help curb the rise of France’s National Front (FN), as support surges for far-right parties across Europe. “I will make my contribution towards ensuring that other political forces are stronger than the National Front,” she told students attending the French high school in Berlin. Merkel, who rarely comments on neighbouring France’s political scene, said that in Germany too, the rise of the far-right was a phenomenon that “we have to deal with”.